The St. Louis High School Business Professionals of America—BPA—team competed at regionals Dec. 16, 2025 at Central Michigan University.
Business Professionals of America is a CTSO (Career Technical Student Organization) in which members develop individual skills through a variety of events. The organization offers over 50 different events relating to business, finance, and law. The events are separated into two categories, judged and not-judged events. Judged events include things like speeches, team projects, and presentations in which participants are judged through a rubric by volunteer judges—people with experience in that industry. Non-judged events are events that include tests and participation-based events. At St. Louis students have to pick two events to participate in as requested by the BPA Advisor Mrs. Biehl.
Biehl has been managing BPA since 2011 as she teaches the Intro to Business class and the Finance Management class. “I love BPA! It is so rewarding to watch students work hard for something and then see them succeed at the regional, state, or national level. The state and national conferences offer so many opportunities for students to grow in ways you can’t always at school,” Biehl expresses. In regards to this year’s competition, Biehl says that, “This year’s competition went great! We had a large number of freshmen/first-time members which is always exciting and saw a lot of success.”
Biehl hosted a luncheon Dec. 17, to announce the state qualifiers. The St. Louis chapter had 26 participants place for the state competition, which is held in Grand Rapids. Students place by being ranked top six in their event at regionals.
One of the participants who placed was Sarah Bowerman. She took first place in basic office systems and procedures. Bowerman states, “My first competition was great. I got to make new friends, make new memories, and take on a tradition of my sister.” Aaron and Bethany Bowerman—her siblings—both participated in BPA during their time at St. Louis High School. “Overall it was a ‘W’ experience and I can’t wait for states!” she remarks.
Another state qualifier is Sophia Miller. She has qualified for Economic Research as she and placed in third. This was Miller’s third year in BPA and as a senior she says that, “I’m honestly going to miss competing in BPA so much. It’s been such a huge part of my high school experience and I’ve made some of my best memories while doing it.” BPA has helped Miller with many skills and has made her more confident in her abilities. “I hope that even after I graduate, people will continue to join BPA and get as much out of it as I did,” she adds.
Overall, the St. Louis BPA had a very successful day at CMU and qualified a plethora of SLHS students for the upcoming state competition.
